ANTH 340 Exam 1

What are the eight questions that Arthur Kleinman developed to help understand a patient's explanatory model?

1. What do you call the problem? 2. What do you think has caused the problem? 3. Why do you think it started when it did? 4. What do you think the sickness does? How does it work? 5. How severe is the sickness? Will it have a long or a short course? 6. What kind of treatment do you think the patient should receive? 7. What are the chief problems the sickness has caused? 8. What do you fear most about the sickness?

What are stressors?

Anything that causes stress

What were the different healers found in ancient Sumeria and what were they responsible for?

Ashipu: supernatural causes/charms and spells Asu: obvious illness/trauma, herbs

What is human plasticity and how does it relate to Boas' work?

Changing to respond to changes in environment, related to the study of children of immigrants

How was Dwight Conquergood's approach different from others who worked with the Hmong? Dr Fife's? Dr. Small's? Neil's?

Did health theater approach, Dr. Fife was more liked among Hmong

What is anthropology?

Discipline that investigates the nature and causes of human variation and those aspects of life that are common to all of humanity.

What were the different medical diagnoses that Lia received during her life? How did her illness progress? How did her parents care for her?

Epilepsy, sepsis

What is the role of the Mayan Zinacanteco healers and how do they come to be H'iloletik?

Epileptic healers, Gods call to them in dreams, cure is to become healers

What is ethnocentrism and what would be considered to be ethnocentric?

Ethnocentrism: the idea that one's beliefs and behaviors are right and all others are wrong/misguided Example: differences in holidays

What is ethnographic fieldwork?

Extended on-location research to gather detailed and in-depth information on a society's customary ideas, values, and practices through participation in its collective social life.

Who is Franz Boas?

Father is American Anthropology, created the 4 field approach, believed that each culture had its own specific history and must be understood based on unique past/current culture, human plasticity

What 3 changes did Kleinman suggest for the pediatricians in charge of Lia's healthcare?

First of all, he told her that the term "compliance" (in the context of following medical regimen) should not be used because it "implies moral hegemony"; second of all, he suggested that somebody should have brought in a member of the Hmong community or a medical anthropologist who could help negotiate between the family and the doctors (this would have required deciding upon certain limits, sticking to those, and accepting compromise on everything else); and third of all, he said that the doctors needed to remember that even their own culture has its own "set of interests, emotions, and biases."

What is the twiv neeb's role? What rituals does he or she perform?

Healer in Hmong culture, performs sacrifices and goes into trances

What caused Lia's illness according to her parents? How should it have been treated?

Her sister slamming the door, should be treated with sacrifices

What are the differences in the birthing practices of the Hmong and those that typically occur in a medical setting in the US?

Hmong don't allow noises to be made and typically give birth at home, fathers not as present

According to Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Margaret Lock, what are the 3 bodies that should be considered when analyzing health and disease?

Individual body, social body, body politic

What are some differences between a Hmong shaman and a physician from the US?

Looked more at the soul

How might different beliefs as to what happens at death impact the care of the ill while they are alive or once they die? How is this true for the Hmong?

Provide a specific type of care to ensure a proper afterlife

What were some ways of healing the Hmong used?

Sacrifice

What is soul loss and what can be done to cure it?

Sacrifices, strings

Joan Cassell found that surgeons and intensivists had different approaches to dealing with their patients. What were those and why did these differences exist?

Surgeons: operate on patients to fix immediate problem, goal is to avoid death, patient should be alive when leaving ICU Intensivists: treat/support medical care patients, concerned with patient's quality of life/diminishing suffering, identify when there is no hope

When is biomedicine alternative medicine?

Tamil patients in Norway, the San

Why is the placenta important for the Hmong?

They viewed it as the coat for the afterlife and would help lead them home

Were Foua and Nao non-compliant? Were there circumstances that affected how they interpreted and implemented the doctor's instructions?

They were sort of non-compliant, but issues like a language barrier made it difficult

What does it mean to be brain dead? Is this an acceptable definition of death in Japan?

To lose all brain activity, Japanese typically don't accept it

What are some of the cultural differences noted by Lynn Payer in the biomedical approaches in the US, Great Britain, and Germany?

US: more invasive tests and therapies, Great Britain: restraint, less concern about things like blood pressure and cholesterol

How did the Hmong view illness? How was this different from a biomedical approach?

Viewed it as relating to the soul

What were some issues that the Hmong had with blood tests, anesthesia, surgery, autopsies, and organ donation? Why did they hold these views?

Viewed things as limited, wanted to keep the body whole

What is the placebo effect?

a beneficial effect, produced by a placebo drug or treatment, that cannot be attributed to the properties of the placebo itself, and must therefore be due to the patient's belief in that treatment.

What is participant observation?

a research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities

What is health?

a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity

What are the expectations of those in the sick role?

acting sick

What are the key components to Ayurveda?

balance among 5 elements (earth, water, air, fire, ethics), restore balance by cleansing body

What is Miyupimaatisiiun?

being alive well, going beyond physical body and goes into social/political well being

In biomedicine there is a focus on what type of healing?

biological

What is adaptability and what are some examples?

biological adaptation that is short term, non inherited changes that happen when stressors are faced Ex: shivering

What are the different ways death may be defined?

brain dead, treatment of body, transplants, organs/tourism

How is social well being incorporated ideas of health and well-being among the Cree?

complete well being

What are the differences between alternative and complimentary healing systems?

complimentary is used to not replace biomedicine

What is Critical Medical Anthropology and what is one of its goals?

considers political economics of health

What is illness?

culturally constructed means to identify symptoms/explain suffering

What is medicalization and why is it problematic?

defining something as a disease, medicalized conditions that have social roots

What is a healing system?

diagnosis, treatment, follow up by a healer to restore health

What means can be used to determine the illness that an individual may have?

diagnosis: using a variety of tests

How is organ donor ship viewed in Japan and the Hmong?

difficult to carry out, not accepted

What methodology is used for anthropology?

ethnography, holistic/broad based studies

What are the reasons that differential access to healers exists?

for the elite

What are some differences between a biomedical physician and a shaman?

full time healer, access to technological resources, trained by an accredited university

What ethical problems may arise when biomedicine moves from healing to upgrading?

genetic engineering, organic/inorganic enhancements (modern day cyborgs), artificial intelligence

What is the nocebo effect?

harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm

Who are ethnohealers?

healthcare specialists in a given culture

Why are the Tamil who live in Norway unhappy with the care that their physicians provide them?

hot/cold balance

What is cultural relativism?

idea that no behavior or belief can be judged to be odd or wrong simply because it is different from our own

What are Ethnomedical systems?

indigenous healing systems, explanatory models of health/disease, pluralistic healing traditions

How were shamans selected?

inherit position from parent, receiving call from spirit/ancestors, recovery from an illness, birth order, possessing a certain ability

What are some common causes of disease?

injury, infection, malnutrition, genetic mutations, chronic, psychological/behavioral

What are the characteristics of culture?

learned, shared, based on symbols like language, integrated, dynamic, uniformity not necessary or possible, not all positive/negative

What are pluralistic healing traditions and what are some examples in the US?

mixing biomedicine with traditional medicine Ex: acupuncture

How do the Fulani define illness and what advantage does this have?

mother's responsibility diminished by elder women's diagnoses

What are the supernatural causes of illness?

mystical, animistic (soul is lost), magical (witchcraft)

What is disease?

physiological change that impairs function in some way

What do medical anthropologists study?

public health

What are some examples that show a greater belief in the power of medicine?

red pill/blue pill

What is a sick role and how is it defined?

socially recognized expectations for "sick" individuals

What is medical anthropology?

study of health, illness, medicine, and healing using anthropological theories/methods

What is ethnopharmacology and how effective is it?

study of indigenous medicines and their use in cultural contexts

What is ethnomedicine?

study or comparison of the traditional medicine based on bioactive compounds used by various ethnic groups

What is epidemiology?

the branch of medicine that deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health.

How did the physicians and nurses treating Lia help her? How did they fail her?

they helped her by giving her constant care, but they didn't always keep a good attitude

How was ethnopharmacology used by Lia's parents?

they used their traditional means of healing

What is Navajo healing (includes traditional healing, Navajo Native American Church Healing, Christian healing, and biomedicine)?

traditional healing (sand painting, chanting), Navajo Native American Church Healing (peyote), Christian healing (laying of hands and praying), and biomedicine (hospitals, clinical care)

What is the role of the Luo healers of Kenya, how do they heal, and who learns their trade?

traditionally women were healers, used herbs, ancestor spirits, foreign medicines, passes knowledge to grandsons

How are biomedical healers suggested?

trained from accredited university

What is a biocultural perspective?

understanding health issues as mix of social, ecological, and biological factors

What is applied medical anthropology?

use of anthropological methodology

What was the Hmong's view on children and what role did parents have in their child's life?

very celebrated in Hmong culture, mothers take care of them longer

How did the Hmong view the illness that they called quad dab peg (the spirit catches you and you fall down)?

viewed it as a gift